The state Education Department has postponed till further notice, the three-day ‘Gunotsav’ programme — a quality assessment drive in primary schools scheduled to start from November 12 — due to the cyclone alert. The statewide drive was supposed to cover 36,000 primary schools (government and aided) and involve 3,000 Class I and Class II officers.

But with the weatherman predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall starting Wednesday evening in Valsad, Surat, Bharuch, Narmada, Navsari, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Anand and Ahmedabad, the exercise has been halted.

State Education Minister Ramanlal Vora confirmed the move and said: “The planned schedule has been cancelled across the state due to the cyclone alert by the Met Department. The next date for the programme has not been worked out, but it will be scheduled sometime in November itself. ”

This unique drive was aimed at conducting an overall review of all primary schools as well as monitor their educational infrastructure and utility. It also aimed to promote the use of technology in schools.

The Education Department has not taken any decision on the closing of schools due to the cyclone alert.